It's all those small things

As an expericed facilitator who has trained in all sorts of environments, I know it's the little things that make the job enjoyable and worthwhile. Yes, hopefully you always get the thrill when you see the students light up because they have thought about something you have taught them, and how they are contextualising the learning to suit their context, but let's be honest, it's a taxing job.

People used to ask me why I was tired at the end of a day of training, 'I mean, it's not like you do any real work, you just stand there and talk'. But the role is so much more than that. It's working out your student's personalities, needs, and areas of strengths and their challenges. It's about pitching your teaching to a suitable level for both the group and the individuals. It's about answering questions on the fly, working out how you are going to take your class from where it is currently in terms of skills and knowledge, and what is the most suitable way to help them be where they need to be.

It's time management, class management, people managment, energy management, and even resource management. It's about seeing the big picture for your students, carefully planning what you are doing not only today but for the next week. But, I find despite all of this, the job becomes more rewarding when the small things are taken care of.

Like having a roster you can see well in advance, so you know what your teaching, to whom and where. Particularly the where is important because if you are travelling away from home, this will affect not only you, but your family and any outside work activities you may do, or wish to do. Travelling to client sites also brings it's own challenges and you never know until you have been to a client site quite what to expect, and this can bring a level of anxiety itself.

But only if you care about delivering the best quality training each and everytime you lead the room, or teach a group. Fundementally an experienced training should know what works and what as a bare minimum the training they are going to deliver requires. Yes flexibility is a must and you must be able to adapt wherever possible, but there are also sometimes that flexibility beyond a point just means substandard practice and a less than good experience for both students and trainer.

Sometimes clients when they book a trainer fail to understand what it is required for the training to valuable to their staff, sometimes the person who books the trainer is unaware of what resources they have available for their staff and this can make the situation particularly uncomfortable for all when the trainer arrives on site to see that what has been promised, is not available. And although good trainers compensate for this by bring their own resources when a baggage limit of 10kg applies for several days training there is very little opportunity for a trainer to bring much at all.

When not training at a client site there is nothing better than to have your own room, that you can setup in the way you find works best and not have to constantly have to setup and packup furniture. Moreover at the end of one course you can with some careful planning set up the whole room for the next course which minimises the effort on day one of the next course. You start to feel comfortable, knowing where to stand, how your going to deliver the course and of course you have no worries about is the audio visual equipement, wifi etc going to work today. Moreover you can put aside resources for the following course and prep in the lull times in class. I think one of the things I least like is the constant setup / packup / re setup that happens when you are delivering short courses in different locations.

Being based on one site with the same group of trainers working around you also fosters a sense of being one team, working together for a shared goal, not just a collection of individuals who touch base occasionally. It means you can have a conversation, share a laugh, and talk over common issues with people you see everyday. Next week I will have been lucky enough to have worked in the one class room for four weeks running. How good is that I hear myself saying.

Other small things that make a difference I believe is getting positive feedback from your boss on regular basis, but also not being micro managed. Being trusted enough to do the job you were employed to do, and so being left alone to do the job but also knowing you can touch base at anytime to blow off steam, shoot the breeze or even share a thought.

And finally a small thing which is really a big thing for teachers, trainers or facilitators is having a team who support you, who understand that you seldomly ask for anything, but when you do it's because you need something done and do it without questioning why. A team that will take the time to genuinely answer your enquiry with a friendly explanation. A team that will ensure you have the resources you need to give your students the best experience possible.

These are the small things that make my job worthwhile. What are yours?